Pole shaping cutter



Feb. 22, 1938.

POLE SHAPING CUTTER I Filed Jan. 11, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. M. DEITERS 2,109,415

Feb. 22, 1938.

M. DEITERS POLE SHAPING CUTTER Filed Jan. 11, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 22,1938. DE|TER5 2,109,415

POLE SHAPING CUTTER I 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Z2 m /5 m Filed Jan. 11, 1937 4 Z/ g a I 41/ 5 4/ I I n J G I Patented Feb. 22, 1938 UNITED STATES POLE SHAPING CUTTER.

August M. Deiters, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Southern 'Wood Preserving Company, Atlanta,

Ga., a corporation of Georgia Application January 11, 1937, Serial No. 120,105

7 Claims.

This invention relates to pole shaping machines of the general type shown in U. -S. Patent No. 1,943,649 and, among other objects, aims to provide greatly improved rotary cutters for shaping ordinary poles. The main idea is to provide roughing cutters having associated saws adapted to cut spiral kerfs in front of the cutter blades across the grain of the wood and thereby relieve the cutter blades of end thrust and destructive wear on their leading end edges. Another aim is to provide roughing cutters of this type adapted for use in conjunction with finishing or smoothing cutters such as those shown in a copending application, Ser. No. 120,104, filed Jan. 11, 1937, by A. M. Deiters and E. R. Gillon.

Other aims and advantages of the invention will appear in the specification when considered in connection with-the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view, partly'in elevation, showing the preferred form of cutters applied to a pole shaping machine;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front end elevation of one of the roughing cutters removed from the machine;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the roughing cutter shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of a pole showing the contour of a cut made by the roughing cutter.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the cutters there shown aremounted. in a pole shaping machine like that disclosed in the aforesaid application, wherein poles are fed longitudinally through the machine and two sets of cutters are mounted within a rotatable drum or casing to rotate about their own axes and also bodily with the drum about the axis of the pole. The roughing cutters are used to remove a greater portion of the surplus wood on the pole and the machine is so constructed that the cutters follow the sweeps in the pole. That is to say, the poles are fed into the machine between the cutters, and the machine is mounted for floating movement to correspond with sweeps and irregularities in the pole, such movement being imparted to the machine by roller guides bearing against the pole as'it moves between the cutters.

In Figs, 1 and 2, the machine is shown as including'a special design of gimbal ring in the form of a main supporting frame It, within whichis pivotally mounted a second supporting frame or innergimbal ll carrying annular raceways 12. A drum or casing 13 having comple- -mental raceways i4 is rotatably mounted within the main frame. The drum is shown as being driven bya motor M through suitable reduction gearing including a pinion f5 meshing with an external ring gear is on the rear end of the drum. The mounting'of the drum i3 is such that it is capable of heating movement. That is to say, it is universally movable both angularly and latorally to follow the sweeps in a pole as it isfed through the. machine by the feedingmechanism (not shown). These parts-may be and preferably are the same as those disclosed in the aforesaid patent, except for the fact that the driving motor M is mounted on top of the'inner gimbal instead of within the drum.

A pole P is adapted to be fed longitudinally through the machine by any'suitable feeding means, such as that disclosed in the aforesaid 1 patent and, as it enters the machine, it is engaged by a plurality of fluid pressure operated guide rollers I1. Three such guide rollers are preferably employed for this purpose, and the arrangement is such that'they impart universal floating movement tothe machine, as described in said patent. They are arranged within the machine near thecutters so that the cutterswill be caused to follow the sweeps in the pole.

In this instance, the roughing cutters are shown as being arranged on diametrically opposite sides of the pole near the front or entering end of the rotatable casing. They are preferably composed of ordinary planer heads l8 carrying a plurality of angularly arranged blades i9 suitably secured in grooves in the head by means of set screws 21 and blocks 22. The leading and trailing end edges of the cutter blades are shown as being ightly beveled. The heads are mounted on horizontal shafts 23 which are driven by motors 24 within the casing and supported on crossheads, each shown as including a pair of spaced plate members 25 and 26 having legs 2'! at their four corners which are mounted in guide members 28 secured at their ends to the inner wall of the drum. The inner ends of the guide members 28 are also shown as being secured to a small slotted drum 29 which is of such size as to accommodate the largest poles and permits the cutters to be projected radially inwardly to work onthe smallest poles. v r

The cutters are adapted to be fed inwardly automatically and adjusted to cut poles of different diameters, as well as to produce the desired'tapers, by means of feed screws driven 1 by reduction gearing 3! connected to be operated by sprockets 32 journaled in brackets within the casing over which a sprocket chain 33 is trained. Four such sprockets are shown in Fig. 2. Two of them are employed to feed a pair of finishing cutters 3% by means of feed screws 35. Incidentally, the finishing cutters may be of any suitable design, but they are shown as being the same as those claimed in the aforesaid copending application. All of the cutters are simultaneously adjusted by means of the feed screws operated by the sprocket chain and the chain is adapted to be driven by a motor 36, the speed of which is controlled according to the feeding speed of the pole, as explained in the aforesaid patent.

As shown in Fig. 1, the roughing cutters and the finishing cutters are arranged to take spiral cuts around the pole as it is fed through the machine. The finishing cutters are spaced from the roughing cutters and arranged behind a slotted partition 3'! within the casing. This partition prevents the chips out by the roughing cutters from entering the rear chamber of the casing and clogging up the feeding mechanism. After the roughing cutters have removed a greater portion of the surplus wood from the pole, the pole is engaged by a pair of spring urged guide shoes 38 arranged just ahead of the finishing cutters to ride on the roughed surface of the pole. These guide shoes tend to maintain the pole and the machine substantially coaxial behind the guiding rollers H.

In machines of this type used for shaping telephone or telegraph poles and the like, the feeding speed of the poles sometimes exceeds 25 feet per minute. I-Ieretofore, special and very expensive blades having cutting edges on their sides and leading ends have been employed. When taking deep cuts, such blades were subjected to enormous end thrust and Wore out very quickly at their leading ends. The end edges had to cut across the grain of the wood sometimes to a depth of 2 inches and, at the same time, bear the feeding thrust. The loss of time and replacement costs were far too great in proportion to the output of the machine. In accordance with this invention, the roughing cutters are relieved of the end thrust and the cutters, themselves, are greatly simplified so that ordinary planer blades may be used without excessive wear.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, each cutter head is shown as being Provided with a pair of circular saw segments 39 and 4B eccentrically arranged at acute angles to the plane of the end of the head. These saw segments are preferably semi-circular and may be made by cutting a circular saw in half. The segments are preferably secured to the head by bolts 4! and are held at acute angles thereto by means of spacer washers 42 of different thicknesses. The two segments are eccentric in opposite directions and are oppositely inclined with respect to the face of the head at the junction of the segments. That is to say, the teeth of the segments on the shortest radii are most remote from the leading end of the cutter head; while the teeth on the longest radii are nearest the end of the head or the leading ends of the cutter blades. The arrangement of the teeth is such that, as the cutter head rotates counterclockwise on its own axis as viewed in Fig. 3, the teeth on each segment will take successively deeper cuts beginning with the teeth on the shortest radii until the teeth on the longest radii cut to the botom of the kerf. Incidentally, the cutters rotate bodily in a clockwise direction around the pole, as viewed in Fig. 2. This arrangement of the saw segments is important because the teeth are relieved of excessive side thrust or end thrust on the cutter head, each tooth taking only a small cut. Moreover, the saw segments cut outwardly and rearwardly inclined shoulders on the pole ahead of the cutter blades so that the successive teeth have ample clearance and do not frictionally engage the faces of the shoulders left by the preceding teeth. The maximum diameter of the toothed segments is substantially the same as the cutting diameter of the cutter blades at their leading edges and the cutter blades, as hereinbefore stated, are slightly beveled at their leading ends so that the central portions of the blades out slightly deeper and produce a smoother surface.

In Fig. 6, the cut made by one of the roughing cutters is shown on a fragment of a pole, the roughing cutter being shown in broken lines. The pole is being fed to the right and the saw segments have produced a beveled shoulder S. The bottom of the saw kerf is the same depth as the cut made by the leading beveled end edges of the cutter blades. The leading ends of the blades produce a bevel cut B; while the cylindrical portions of the blades make a cylindrical cut C representing the roughed out diameter of the pole. The feeding speed of the pole: is preferably such that the pitch of the spiral cuts produced by the roughing cutters is 6 inches or more. Each cutter shown will therefore take a cut of half that width, defining a double spiral path on the pole. The cutter blades successively remove portions of the surplus wood, each taking a deeper bite than the preceding one around the pole and the fibres of the surplus wood are severed by the saw segments so that all of the surplus wood is easily removed by the blades.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the roughing cutters are relatively simple in their design and may employ inexpensive planer blades. Also, the saw segments may be made of ordinary plain circular saws of the prop er diameter. They do not require frequent sharpening but may be removed very quickly for repair or replacements. The planer blades will last much longer than the more expensive cutters heretofore used without the saw segments. Furthermore, the cutters enable the machine to cut poles continuously at a much greater speed than was heretofore possible. The loss of time for changing blades and regrinding them is reduced to a minimum.

Obviously, the present invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all the features of the invention be used conjointly, since they may be employed advantageously in various combinations and sub-combinations.

What is claimed is:

1. Cutting means for shaping wood poles and the like comprising, in combination, a rotatable cutter head carrying cutter blades and adapted to rotate bodily relative to the pole while the pole moves relatively longitudinally of and parallel with the axis of the head; and rotary cutting means coacting with the cutter head having teeth each spaced longitudinally and circumferentially in rear of the preceding tooth and on successively greater radii, whereby the lowest teeth engage the surface of the pole first while the succeeding teeth take successively deeper cuts to produce a shoulder in a path slightly in advance of the leading ends of the cutting blades and approximately to the same depth as the depth of the cut of the blades.

2. Cutting means for shaping wood poles and the likecomprising, in combination, a rotatable cutter head carrying cutter blades and adapted to rotate bodily relative to the pole while the pole moves relatively longitudinally of and parallel with the axis of the head, and fibre severing means comprising a separate rotary cutter having circumferential cutting edges of progres sively increasing radii, said edges being angularly pitched so that the lowest edges are the first to engage the pole surface as the pole is fed past the cutting blades, whereby said cutting edges produce a substantially spiral shoulder around the pole ahead of the blades and approximately to the same depth as the depth of cut of the blades to relieve the leading ends of the blades of end thrust.

3. Cutting means for shaping wood poles and the like comprising, in combination, a rotatable cutter head carrying cutter blades and adapted to rotate bodily relative to the pole while the pole moves relatively longitudinally of and parallel with the axis of the head; and eccentrically and angularly arranged saw segments associated with the cutter head to produce a kerf around the pole and sever the wood fibres ahead of the blades. r

4. Cutting means for shaping wood poles and the like comprising, in combination, a rotatable cutter head carrying cutter blades and adapted to rotate bodily relative to the pole while the pole moves relatively longitudinally of and parallel with the axis of the head; and a pair of eccentrically arranged saw segments secured to the leading end of the cutter head at opposite acute angles to a plane normal to the axis of the head with the low teeth thereof most remote from the end of the head to produce a kerf around the pole and sever the fibres ahead of the blades.

5. Cutting means for shaping wood poles and the like comprising, in combination, a rotatable cutter head carrying cutter blades and adapted.

to rotate bodily relative to the pole while the pole 7 moves relatively longitudinally of and parallel with the axis of the head, the leading ends of said blades being bevelled; and eccentrically arranged saw segments secured to the leading end of the cutter head at acute angles to a plane normal to the cutter head axis and having the high teeth of each segment nearest the adjacent end of the cutter head, said high teeth being substantially of the same diameter as the leading bevelled edges of the blades.

'7. Cutting means for shaping Wood poles and the like comprising, in combination, a rotatable cutter head carrying cutter blades and adapted to rotate bodily relative to the pole while the pole moves relatively longitudinally of and parallel with the axis of the head; and'segments of a plain circular saw secured eccentrically to the leading end of the cutter head, each segment being arranged at an acute angle to a plane normal to the cutter head axis with the high teeth of each segment nearest the adjacent end of the cutter head, the segments being arranged to cut a kerf in a pole in advance of and to substantially the same depth as the blades, and the eccentricity of the segments being substantially the same as the maximum depth of cut.

AUGUST M. DEITERS. 

